| 摘要 |
The present invention comprises model systems that allow study and control of the activity of the intracellular or cytoplasmic regions of integrins and other transmembrane proteins. One aspect of these model systems is protein constructs that contain helical regions in order to approximate the effect of the transmembrane hydrophobic regions while maintaining solubility. One type of protein construct according to the present invention comprises: (1) a first segment including two amino acid sequences joined at their amino-terminal residues in head-to-head fashion, each of the two amino acid sequences of the first segment including a substantially helical amphiphilic amino acid region; and (2) two second segments, each of the second segments joined to the first segment at the carboxyl terminus of each of the two amino acid sequences of the first segment. The protein construct has one free alpha-amino terminus derived from one of the amino acid sequences of the first segment and two free carboxyl termini. Another type of protein construct according to the present invention comprises a first segment, two second segments, and two third segments. Also within the scope of the invention are chimeric integrins and methods for their use. |
